Tuesday, February 10, 2015

I fail as a Blogger.

So, yeah, I know I have not posted in a minute or two but with good reason. First and foremost I have been sick, secondly I am now working as a bartender, and finally the morbid part, depression. Yes, I know, no one wants to see, hear, and/or think about that but it happens. I went from pursuing my biggest dream to knowing it was finally and truly over. It takes a bit to get over, ya' know?

I have new dreams now. The kind that resided in my subconscious for ages but were smothered by the whole "I AM GOING TO WIN THE DERBY. END OF STORY." thing. One of those dreams is writing novels and another is showing (I'm competitive, in case you haven't noticed).

I finally am starting to be able to ride again, I even cantered! Kind of, Beastie knows three gaits: Walk, Trot, FAST! I also am mostly familiar with these so a 12 clip (12 seconds per 1/8 of a mile, AKA 1:16 mile***See end of post) around an indoor is not as terrifying to me. So we've been having momentary issues with that.

Alas! We have managed to get the chance to work with Ken McGrath! After several recommendations I made the call and tomorrow at 1:00 PM Beastie and I have our first session with a dressage trainer. I've been YouTube-ing lessons for too long and I definitely need direction now. So far we have managed to slow down to a collected trot, build a TEENY bit of top line and put our head down, almost manage a turn on the forehand, and reduced our egg-shaped lunge line episodes to one of lesser speed and an almost round shape.

We have also both been eating like we will never be fed again (IE: We're fat).

***12 Clip: A 12 clip is a 12 second 1/8th of a mile and a standard breeze/work pace for capable animals. Some horses can go significantly faster, up to 9 seconds for an 1/8, but in races you typically run a 12-ish time until the stretch, where you go a bit faster (ideally). A standard riding horse canter or lope runs at about a 25 clip. In racing many jockeys and exercise riders can tell how fast they are going down to a fraction of a second which can make or break a race for everyone. If I ever had one thing going for me, it was that my timing was impeccable. You want me to go a half of a mile in 48? I could do it without being more than a half of a second off.

As long as you have new dreams to replace the old, everything will be okay. You were a jockey, you can do anything you want with having that type of athleticism and guts! I hope that you love your lesson :) Also, I've noticed that women riders are more likely to have a good clock. My conclusion is that women are just smarter than men ;)